Announcing a slate of nine films including Gus Van Sant‘s Cannes competitionentry “Last Days,” as well as key staff and a philosophical outlook, theprinciples of the previously unnamed HBO/New Line venture headed by formerNewmarket chief Bob Berney gathered early Friday morning for a briefing. Atthe Majestic Hotel in Cannes, Berney revealed initial plans for the newestmini-major, Picturehouse.

Taking the reins at the press conference was Picturehouse President BobBerney, joined by New Line Co-Chair & Co-CEO Michael Lynne, Chairman and CEOof HBO Chris Albrecht, and HBO Films president Colin Calendar. Berney toutedthe company’s lineup with Van Sant’s “Last Days” as the company’s firstrelease under the Picturehouse banner and Steven Shainberg‘s (“Secretary”)“Fur,” starring Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr., its first production.The first two acquisitions are Raymond De Felitta‘s (“Two Family House”)feature, “The Thing About My Folks” with Peter Falk and Paul Reiser andGiddi Dar‘s ultra-Orthodox Jewish drama, “Ushpizin.”

“What we’re hopeful of is that Bob can continue his long record offinding films with value that others haven’t been able to,” said MichaelLynne, outlining some of the strategy the company will take in its approachto distribution. “We’re here to give a platform to [Berney’s] abilities,”said Albrecht, echoing that sentiment. The group clearly hoped to convey tothose assembled this morning that the company, although a product of HBOFilms and New Line, will pursue its own identity and expects to be anoutlet that will bring independent films to a “commercial audience” — it isnot a vanity project they reinforced.

During the press briefing, Berney introduced senior members of his staff,which will initially total 33 with the majority in the New York headquartersand eight in Los Angeles. Longtime Berney collaborator Robert Schwartz willserve as COO of the company, while Marian Koltai-Levine from Fine Line andDennis O’Connnor from HBO Films were named executive vice presidents ofmarketing. Koltai-Levine will work in the New York office and O’Connor willremain in L.A. with former United Artists executive Sara Rose whowill serve as Picturehouse’s senior vice president of acquisitions. Rosepreviously worked with Berney at Orion Pictures. All four execs will reportto Berney.

Among Picturehouse key staff are Marian Koltai-Levine EVP of Marketing, SVP of Acquisitions Sara Rose and EVP of Marketing Dennis O’Connor, pictured at the press briefing. Photo by Brian Brooks/indieWIRE.

Also on the senior team are veteran distribution execs from Newmarket Films,Bill Thompson and John Lange, who will serve as senior vice presidents andco-general sales managers. Thompson and Lange will report to Schwartz.

“This group of real professionals and veterans deliver us a premiere,full-service marketing and distribution company,” said Berney in a statementdistsributed to journalists prior to the press conference. “I am proud towork with each of them at Picturehouse.”

The Picturehouse release slate includes Don Argott‘s “Rock School” in Juneand Ari Posin‘s “The Chumscrubber” in August branded as Newmarket releases.Also on tap is Michael Winterbottom‘s “A Cock and Bull Story” in October andMary Harron‘s “The Notorious Bettie Page” from Killer Films next March, aswell as “As You Like It” by Kenneth Branagh next year.

After the briefing, Berney told indieWIRE that he will release “Rock School”in June and “Last Days” in July fairly aggressively, starting in 10-12markets and expanding from there. Van Sant’s Cannes competition entry has abuilt in audience in the Northwest, Berney noted, adding that he hopes todraw Nirvana fans and grunge music aficionados. In the case of “The ThingAbout My Folks,” Berney told indieWIRE that he sees an opportunity to modelthe success he had with “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” The successful fest filmwill open in September and he expects it to deliver as a popularword-of-mouth title, starting in just eight cities but growing from there.“It’s more mainstream — it’s a family movie but it’s not sappy,” Berneyadded.

Berney said the company has no plans to go on an acquisitions spending spreenow that Picturehouse’s operations are officially underway. “We have a goodslate, but I feel no pressure to walk down the street and start buyingeverything,” said Berney. The group indicated that no specific parametershave been set in terms of its development budget, but they saidit will evolve over time.

Asked during the press conference if the company will have its parentcompany logo next to its monogram, Lynne said that that was still to bedetermined. “[It hasn’t been] decided if Picturehouse will say, ‘A TimeWarner Company’ or if HBO [and] New Line labels will be on the screen withPicturehouse.”

“I want to emphasize that this is a full service marketing and distributioncompany [and] not just a label,” said Berney.

Still, the group lauded its Time Warner roots as a company spawned by HBOand New Line, both longtime entities of the media giant which is theworld’s largest. They also dismissed any potential conflict with sister TimeWarner label Warner Independent Pictures, which also releases specialtycontent. “Warner Independent and Picturehouse don’t have an impact on oneanother,” said Lynne with Albrecht adding, “[there’s] no reason these[companies] can’t exist side by side for the benefit of the parent company.”